For Hull City’s players and supporters there is sure to be a palpable sense of relief when the full-time whistle is sounded at Griffin Park tomorrow afternoon.

The last nine months, long and trying, have seen to that. A club relegated from the Premier League showed flashes of its calibre but the final standing of 18th, one that cannot change on the Championship’s final day, covers no-one in glory.

Batteries need to be recharged during the summer weeks before the enthusiasm returns to start over again in August, yet for Will Keane this is still a season finishing much too quickly.

The 25-year-old had to wait until January 20 before he was finally able to get his campaign underway after recovering from a serious knee injury and the looming break is not one he is relishing.

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“The end of the season has probably come a bit too soon,” said City’s striker, who made only his 10th appearance of the season in last week’s 2-0 defeat to Cardiff.

“I’ve not featured as much as I’d have liked this season. I’m sure some lads will have played 45 games and be knackered, ready for a break, but I’m still itching to play.

Will Keane ends the season aiming for brighter times in 2018-19

“I just have to keep on top of my fitness and look to get a good pre-season under my belt which I missed out on last summer. Next year is a really big year for me and I need to make sure I’m fit and ready.

“I know what I’m capable of and more than proving that to anyone else I want to show myself where I can get to. Hopefully with a good run staying injury free I can do that. I do think that’s what it’s down to. If I can get that I don’t see why I can’t be a success.”

As Keane readily accepts, 2018-19 promises to be the biggest of his career. Since bursting into Manchester United’s first team as a teenager in 2011, he has since started just 42 games in senior football. For context, Ola Aina has started more fixtures this season alone.

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Twice Keane has been forced to fight back from knee ligament operations that have effectively written off almost three years of his career and now he craves a platform that can only come with opportunities.

“Playing games would give me the consistency I need,” said Keane. “I played last weekend but I’d not started in a couple of months so I was lacking that sharpness. You do as much as you can in training to keep it topped up but it’s never really going to replicate the games.

“I’ve played for the rezzies (under-23s) but again that’s a different level to the Championship. I would feel much better in myself if I could get a proper run. There’s a lot more to come given a run of games but I’m still the same me.”

Last weekend's 2-0 loss at home to Cardiff was Will Keane's first start at the KCOM Stadium since November 2016

At least Keane has finished his second season at the KCOM Stadium with a monkey cast from his back. Twenty months after first arriving from Old Trafford in a deal sanctioned by Mike Phelan, that first City goal came in the recent 5-0 win away to Burton Albion.

It might only have been a tap-in to convert Fikayo Tomori’s cross in front of the travelling supporters but it meant far more to the centre forward whose previous goal had come in December 2015.

“I was buzzing to score,” he admitted. “I’d been waiting a long time, especially because I’d not scored for the club before getting injured. It was a big relief.

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“When you come back from a long-term injury you’re just looking for that one to get off the mark. All the lads and the staff were really pleased for me because they knew what it meant to me.

“I came here to score goals and maybe I was trying a bit too hard to get that. I felt I was getting in the right areas in games but when a couple of chances don’t go in, you’re thinking ‘When’s it going to happen?’ It was nice to get the easy one.”

Will Keane celebrates his first goal for Hull City (Image: Focus)

Keane will hope for more next season, both for himself and his team-mates. Just 11 wins have been collected from this season’s 45 Championship games and without winning at Griffin Park tomorrow it will be the club’s lowest points total at this level since relegation to the third tier came in 1990-91.

The disaster of relegation to League One was avoided with two games to spare but none will sign off the season tomorrow with any great satisfaction.

“It’s been really disappointing,” accepted Keane. “We did not want to be in this position at the end of the season but when you consider where we were, at least we’ve accomplished our goals. There’s not been any late scares. The emphasis now is building for next season.

“We know we’ve let ourselves down this year because with the players here we should have been up there and fighting. You watch some of the games against the good teams and you wonder how we’ve not done much better.

“We have looked a good side in the last couple of months. You have your blips in the Championship, like last weekend, but I don’t see why we can’t be up there fighting next season.”